Earlier in January, Notion Ink announced its new Adam II tablet that will be based on Texas Intruments OMAP 4400 dual-core CPU rather than Nvidia Tegra chip.

As you all remember, the first version of Notion Ink's Adam tablet was quite popular with the press over a year ago, mainly by being one of the first tablets with Tegra 2 chip. Today, just a few days from the official announcement of its next Adam II tablet, Notion Ink decided to explain its switch from Nvidia's chip to Texas Instruments OMAP, or to be precise TI OMAP 4400 backed by PowerVR SGX500 GPU.

According to the post over at the Adam II developmet blog, Notion Ink apparently decided to try and squeeze most out of the mentioned TI OMAP 4400 chip rather than to have a chip that won't be used to its full potential. Also the choice might have something to do with the fact that OMAP is certainly Google's favorite, at least for now.

Although it was promised for December 2011, the Adam II probably won't be coming out any time soon but we'll surely keep an eye out for it as they have some software twists that might be quite interesting. You can check out the development blog here.

Asus recently announced the Transformer Prime, a Tegra 3 powered quad-core tablet that can also be used with a keyboard dock, but we won’t write about that one this time around.

Many people who would like a tablet shy away from the whole concept due to the lack of a physical keyboard and the main argument against tablets is that you need a keyboard for any serious work. Don't get me started that tablet with a keyboard is a notebook, but at the same time Asus Transformer slider is actually a tablet with a slide keyboard, as the name implies.

We did a little experiment and showed off the Asus Eee Pad Slider, Lenovo Pad and Sony S 7-inch tablet and ask our non IT friends asking for an opinion. Surprisingly both female and male said that the Asus Transformer Slider would be their choice as it had a keyboard and an integrated stand. Some ladies preferred the Sony due to its slick design and we agree that Sony S got the looks.

The full name of the tested device is Asus Eee Pad Slider SL101 and the dominant feature you notice once you see it is the slider keyboard. If you don’t slide the keyboard out, the Eee Pad slider is just as any other tablet, but significantly heavier than the competition. It’s a 10.1-inch tablet with an LED backlit 1280x800 IPS screen, which is standard for most tablets around. The display has ultra-wide 178-degree viewing angle and it’s protected by scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass. Overall the display looks just fine.

The Eee Pad slider is based on the Tegra 2 SoC, clocked at 1.0GHz and performance wise you cannot really tell the difference between this tablet and Eee Pad Transformer, or Samsung Galaxy 10.1, or any other Android 3.x tablet.

The Slider comes with 1GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of storage plus a one year of unlimited Asus web storage. The tablet features 802.11n support, along with Bluetooth v2.1, but unfortunately it doesn’t come with 3G or faster mobile internet support. It has two cameras, 1.2Mpixel front facing camera and 5Mpixel rear camera. GPS, light sensor, gyroscope and compass are also on board.

On the back side, you will find a mini HDMI connector and charger, while the right hand side holds the micro SD slot, power and reset buttons as well as volume buttons. The left side features a much needed USB port and audio jack. The device comes with Android 3.2 at the time but Asus claims it will get its portion of Ice Cream Sandwich at some point. The Eee Pad slider packs a 25Wh lithium-polymer battery rated at 8 hours of battery life.

Let’s not forget to mention that this 273 x 180.3 x 17.3 mm tablet weights 960 grams, which is significantly more than the competition, all due to the integrated keyboard, of course.

Once you pop the keyboard out, the first thing you notice is that the keyboard is quite narrow, much more cramped than on a standard netbook. Despite that, keys are comfortable and after a short adjustment period, you will be able to type just fine. The keys are quite big and comfortable to use. This keyboard beats any touchscreen input system and for anyone that does a lot of emails, writing [Like us. Ed], the keyboard makes these everyday tasks much faster. Asus Transformer and Transformer Prime also have keyboards that can be removed, but for people that don’t want to carry a removable keyboard around the Slider might be a better choice.

The bad side of the slide out keyboard is that you cannot adjust the screen angle, it is always at a fixed angle that will fit your reading from sitting position but it won’t do well in bed. You just won’t be able to adjust a proper angle if you are at your sofa and tablet is on your belly, it just won’t work, while the Transformer or any laptop will let you adjust an angle on a display.

Popping out the keyboard on an Eee Pad slider for the first time is a somewhat traumatic experience as you don't know how much force you should put behind the keyboard sliding motion. Personally, I was concerned I would break something, but luckily I didn’t. Once you do it a few times, you will get use to this, it will feel natural, but we believe the mechanism could have been better.

OS, Everyday Use

Android 3.2 works similar to what we've seen on other Tegra 2 based tablets, but we have to say that the integrated USB port makes a difference. You can use your USB key and copy a file and you would be surprised how complicated this basic task can be with other Android tablets, not to mention the iPad.

For PC lovers this will be a big plus, you will be able to use your USB key at all times without any hassle. The thing that we didn’t like was the camera. The photos were really terrible, and in low light home environments, they were pretty much unusable. The camera is definitely the biggest downside to the Slider.

Asus also tries to differentiate its tablets from the rest of the Honeycomb crowd with its own applications and it comes with Polaris office. You can type on it, it’s not Word but it can compete with some parts of Open office package. The rest of the software list includes ASUS Launcher, MyLibrary, MyNet, MyCloud, File manager, Kindle books, Zinio Magazine, PressReader and ASUS sync. Naturally you can install everything that Android market or other app store offers.

We tried to play HD videos from YouTube as well as some HD Video clips and this worked just fine. The speakers are decent, but the Sony Tablet S is better in the sound quality department. HDMI works well, and we like the fact that Asus gives you a way to connect your tablet to a TV, so it works out of the box.

The battery was not the Slider’s strongest point. We managed to squeeze some six to seven hours of battery life, mostly browsing the internet, typing an occasional email and watching some vides – basically what everyone is likely to do with media tablets. Watching videos continuously will drop you to the 5 to 6 hour range which is not great. We've seen much better scores from tablets that weights much less, but in Slider’s defense, they didn’t had a slide-out keyboard. Transformer Prime or the original Transformer both have much better battery life when they are used with a keyboard dock.

The Asus Eee Pad slider SL101 32GB currently sells for around €500 in Europe, while in the US Best Buy will gladly sell you a 16GB version for $480, or the 32GB version for $580. The price is comparable to Transformer without a dock, as well as other competing tablet based on Tegra 2 and Android 3.2. Let’s just mention that €499 gets you a Transformer Prime with Tegra 3 quad-core without keyboard.

Conclusion

The Slider comes with an integrated keyboard and this is its strongest point. The keyboard is somewhat cramped but it beats serious typing on the touchscreen. The only real downside to the slide keyboard is its fixed angle.

Its main competitors are other models from Asus’ own stable, the Transformer and Transformer Prime, both of which are available with keyboard docks, but only European customers should consider them as direct competition, as in States the keyboard dock sets you back an additional $150. In Europe you can get the Transformer with keyboard dock for close to €500 or a tad more.

So, this is a tablet that will let you browse the internet and type emails or IM with ease, but it is not that big on battery life. Still, it beats keyboardless models in terms of productivity. Also, it’s slightly heavier and thicker than plain tablets.

If you do any serious typing and you don’t want to get separated from your tablet keyboard ever, this is might be the right tablet for you. It is one of the better Android tablets we've seen, but it’s not perfect.

Jensen started talking about market share and 10-inch market share that Nvidia owns and 7-inch tablet market that is currently emerging and all of a sudden he mentioned that “there were a couple of design wins that I wish we had this year that we didn't have. I already mentioned Motorola. (Xoom 2).”

“We were surprised by the Amazon Fire. But frankly, we're not going to be surprised again. And so we're obviously very excited about Amazon and want to do our best to be a partner of theirs someday,” he said. Naturally Nvidia would want to beat Texas Instruments and get inside of every tablet on the market, but it looks like the one that might outsell the rest of Android tablets on market went to the hands of Texas Instruments.

Jensen also told James that Tegra 2 is here to stay and that they just got three new phone designs, while Tegra 3 will ship in many 7- to 10-inch tablets. Jensen also talked about the technology called DIAdem, where Nvidia can modulate backlight per pixel in a frame in a scene and this should reduce the amount of backlight intensity and backlight energy by nearly half, Jensen claims.

Naturally he mentions that Tegra 3 in a different class than OMAP4 or Tegra 2 processors and that people who like performance but good battery life will want to go for Tegra 3. Tegra 3 is also first with quad core for phones that this should revolutionize the superphones once again.

However, with Kindle Fire in mind, we believe that both iPad and Android 3.2 / 4.0 tablets will suffer heavily since people won’t think twice about spending $199 for a Kindle Fire, but Asus Transformer Prime despite its great looks, battery life and performance, will sell for 2.5 times more, $499 + some $149 extra for keyboard dock.

As rumoured earlier, Motorola's Atrix 2 smartphone has started selling at AT&T. The news comes with a rather surprising twist as the price is set at US $99.99 (with a contract) rather than the US $199.99 that was earlier reported.

In case you missed it, Motorola's Atrix 2 phone features a TI OMAP 1GHz dual-core CPU with 1GB of RAM, packed behind the 4.3-inch 540x960 TFT capacitive touchscreen with Gorilla Glass. The rest of the specs include HSPA+ support, 8GB of ROM, microSD card slot, rear 8 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash and 1080p video recording, front camera for video calls, Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and a 1785mAh battery that should be enough for 9 hours of talk time.

Of course, the noted US $99.99 is with a two-year contract. Without a contract, the new Atrix 2 will set you back for US $449.99.

A few sources have confirmed that most Tegra 2 tablets you know will get Ice Cream Sandwich. We are still sniffing around to find out if the ICS is going to end up as Android 4.0 but it will bring phones and tablets much closer and should ship in October or November.

Many Asus, Samsung, Toshiba, Lenovo, Sony and any other Android 3.x compatible tablets on market will have a chance to get the new one. The upgrade will come as manufacturers get it ready and customized for its tablets but most tablets will ship with Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, probably early next year at the latest.

This is good news for many who were brave to buy the first generation of tablets not based on Apple’s architecture and it will help Google to gather even more momentum for 2012. 2012 looks like a year when Google will be ready for real war against Apple, but at the same time, Android supporters fear that Windows 8 will get a lot of attention when it ships in late 2012.

If you have Motorola Xoom, Samsung 10.1 or any other, Asus Transformer/Transformer 2 or any other Android, Tegra 2 based tablet, expect to get Ice cream sandwich.

Although it was only officially announced in South Korea, LG's Optimus Q2 has finally been detailed. With 1.2GHz Tegra 2 dual-core chip, 4-inch IPS touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard, this one will surely have its place on the market.

The LG's new Optimus Q2 is 12.3mm thick and weighs 146 grams. The full list of specs and features include a 1.2GHz Tegra 2 dual-core chip, 4-inch 800x480 IPS touchscreen and Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS. It also packs a rear 5 megapixel and VGA front cam, 802.11bgn WiFi, Wi-Fi Direct feature, Bluetooth and all other goodies that you expect to find in a smartphone. Of course, the main feature is a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

Unfortunately, South Korea is currently the only market mentioned by LG and there was no details regarding any possibility of an international launch.

We were wondering how come Samsung, Qualcomm as well as Texas instruments can make their 40 / 45nm dual core chips work over 1.0GHz while Nvidia was stuck with 1.0GHz until five days ago.

Nvidia and LG just announced what seems to be the first device with Tegra 2 at over 1.0GHz. The phone is called LG Optimus note, a slider phone of which you can learn more here.

We spoke to Nvidia, who told us that this should not remain the only Tegra 2 device that goes over 1.2GHz but we understand that Tegra 3 is getting a lot more attention these days. The company confirmed that we should start seeing some Tegra 3 phones on the market as soon as early as 2012, with clocks currently unknown.

It looks like in the future, we won’t be stuck with one chip per year with the same clock speeds and that with time and some optimization the clock can go slightly up. In this case, we're talking about some 20 percent increase and we still wonder how much more power / TDP does this clock increase can cause. No one wants to comment this part, but they claim not a lot.

We got a tip that Nvidia's CEO has gone on the record confirming that Kal El, Tegra 3 has more design wins than Tegra 2.

He also confirmed that the chip will be on the market before US holiday season and added:"this quarter (Q3 that ends with September 2011) or Q4 2011". Other industry sources are confirming that Kal El gets a lot of attention and we again confirmed that Asus Transformer 2 will be the first device to come with this quad core 40nm chip, the one that has better power consumption than Tegra 2.

Our sources claim that we should see Kal El in early Q4 2011, where October is the month to hope to see one in market. We also heard that the keyboard dock + battery should stay compatible from the original Asus Transformer power with Tegra 2, which is quite good news.

Jensen also said that he sees Tegra business a a 1 billion dollar business for Nvidia in 2012, which will definitely make some nice money to Nvidia, much more than just to fill the void that was left when Nvidia left out the chipset business.

Asus Transformer was one of the first Tegra 2 devices on the market and one of the first, right after Motorola Xoom, to get the Android 3.0, also known as Honeycomb. This operating system made things much better for tablets and it started the Android tablet movement. Many have followed and today Asus Transformer boasts version 3.1 (version 3.2 is listed on Asus’ portal but currently unavailable).

We managed to grab this tablet for the third if not fourth time this year in order to spend a bit more time with it and compare it with sexy, banned by Apple, Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 and find the key difference. Both tablets come with optional docking stations (picture below). We’d say that Asus’ solution is much more functional, but we’ll analyze this in more depth later in the review.

While the devices are almost identical from the technical side of things, design is definitely something that will help tell them apart. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the thinnest Android tablet, which reminds of Apple’s iPad, whereas the T101 is more robust as well as a bit heavier and wider. Galaxy Tab 10.1 weighs 565 grams while the Transformer weighs in at 680 grams.

Back of the Transformer is made of hard, textured plastics, which pretty much kills any chance of it slipping. The plastics will not bend under pressure.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 has an entirely smooth and flat surface, which is also hard. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is lighter though, which is better when holding it with one hand only.

Galaxy Tab 10.1’s contours are oval that, unlike the Transformer’s sharper contours, will not stress your hand. Apart from being wider, the Transformer is thicker than Galaxy Tab 10.1 as well.

Back of the Transformer is oval towards the center, meaning that it’s quite comfortable to hold. On the other hand, ergonomics is something that you’d best try for yourself and find your preference.

Transformer’s power on key is on the left, whereas Galaxy Tab 10.1 has one on the top part. Both tablets are easy to adjust to, but we did notice a minor design flaw on the Transformer. Namely, speakers are better on the Samsung, as Asus’ speakers have worse placement and can get covered with your hand.

Overall Samsung has better sound when paying music, video or YouTube; the bass is better.

At a glance, Galaxy Tab 10.1 looks a bit plasticky but material quality is very good, just like on the Transformer.

Another key difference are cameras. Transformer makes much better pictures. Asus Transformer has a 5 Mpixel camera while Galaxy tab 10.1 only has a 3 Mpixel one.

The Transformer has a 1.2 Mpixel camera, compared to 2.0 Mpixel camera on the Samsung. If you care to take pictures and videos with tablets, Asus might be a better option, but your face will be better in Skype on Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tab.

Samsung has Multi-Touch glare Touchscreen TFT 1280x800 LED display, while Asus Multi-Touch glare Touchscreen LED Backlight 1280x800. As you’d suggest, both devices have pretty strong reflections making usage outside hard on a sunny day. Note that both tablets are fingerprint magnets.

We have to admit that Samsung has a better screen, sharper edges of zoomed letters and overall better colors. You can clearly see that from a picture below.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi is very limited when it comes to connectors – all you’ll get are 3.5mm jack (stereo line-out port) and a 30 pin port connector, The latter is used for everything, be it charging, syncing, connecting to a docking station, vide out, etc. Naturally, all these require additional dongles, which in turn will cost you.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi Edition has no HSDPA/HSUPA capabilities, but neither does Asus’ Transformer TF101. In other words, wireless LAN is the only way to go online. HSDPA version of Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes with a SIM connector.

On the other hand, Asus Transformer TF101 comes with a few more connectors by default, including a mini-HDMI and microSD card reader. Transformer’s 40-pin port can also be used for additional connections, such as 4-in-1 card reader, USB dongle, etc.

Battery life on both of our today’s samples is pretty similar. While looping video, Asus hit about 9.5 hours whereas Samsung managed 10. With a little help from Transformer’s docking station, you can extend battery life to 16 hours, which is more than most need.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 also has a docking station, but we’d dare to say that it looks plasticky. Furthermore, it does not have a battery so this round definitely goes to Asus.

Once you plug a Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet into the dock, it doesn’t lock it securely and if you lean with the keyboard, the tablet will fall out. In case you’re not planning on carrying it around though, it will work just fine.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 keyboard and keys are comfortable for typing, which is a must if you’re planning to do any serious typing. It is simply faster and better. The function keys can help you launch applications, settings, adjust brightness or volume.

In addition there is a back button, home button, language key and a key that wakes up the soft keyboard. It is quite heavy though - 12.2 ounces or 345Gram, size 6 x 1.4 x 4.2 inches. We managed to find this keyboard listed for €69.99 in Europe which is not a small price for a matching keyboard. The weight of the keyboard probably takes care of stability, but we have expected at least a card reader or USB, not to mention HDMI, on it. The keyboard only has two connectors, just like the tablet. Namely, one audio line-out stereo and one 30 pin proprietary connector (20mA 5V input) which handles charging.

Overall it’s a nice thing but not as great as keyboard dock for Asus Transformer.

Asus on the other hand has a keyboard that can transform it to a netbook / notebook replacement. The locking mechanism locks tablet securely and it won’t be falling out if you lean with it, even if you turn it upside down. We can only hope that this locking mechanism will last forever. The keyboard is comfortable for long typing sessions.

The keyboard has also some Android specific keys such as back, camera launch button, browser or settings launch, but we miss the program launch button that we’ve seen on Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 keyboard. The usual suspects such a WiFi, Bluetooth, volume up and down buttons, brightness as well as basic play options are there. Also, we can’t forget the lock button. We don’t get the need for two FN (function keys) as all you can do with them is to change the arrow options to page up, page down, end and home, e.g. in a document.

Asus also found a way to add additional two USB ports, hidden below nicely designed lids and added a memory card reader, but someone seems to have forgotten to include a headphones out. The one from the pad will work just fine, but it might be nicer to see it on the keyboard side, not on the side of monitor.

The best part of the keyboard dock is the battery that can prolong your battery life for an additional 8 hours. With two batteries, one inside of Transformer and one inside of the keyboard you can get close to 16 hours battery life, which is great even for the best of thin and light notebooks.

Finding differences between two similar pieces of hardware is not an easy task. Both tablets have Tegra 250 (Tegra 2) System-on-a-Chip (SoC unifies processor, graphics, chipset, GSM, UMTS modul) clocked at default 1GHZ with 1GB DDR2 memory and options of 16GB, 32GB SSD. Samsung is the only one that has a 64GB SSD model at the moment. Tegra 2 has two cores so multitasking runs pretty good, both on the Tab 10.1 and Transformer TF101. The models we compared come with 16GB SSD drivers and Android 3.1.

The only weird thing was the PDF opening speed. To put it bluntly - it sucked on both. It was very laggy to zoom pictures and letters on 30+ pages PDF with pictures. This was the tablets’ biggest weakness we could found. Notebooks and Netbooks are much faster in this respect than any of the tablets we’ve seen. Maybe quad core can make things thing fast enough.

Playing HD video (720p) from YouTube or HD trailers fits the machines just fine. Asus’ advantage is that it has mini HDMI (1.3a) that will let you connect your 16GB and 32GB tablet and play your favorite ripped movie. It works great on bath as well as basic surfing, tab browsing, typing, playing games and any other thing you can imagine doing on a tablet.

Android Market has hundreds of games and we’ve seen that Nvidia is heavily promoting its games for Tegra, which is a pretty nice wake up call to the competition. Tegra Zone offers many 2D and 3D optimized games for Tegra 2 tablets. One of these games, perhaps even the most interesting so far, is Sprinkle.

They both have more or less the same WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. Samsung has an option for HSDPA+ modem which is much faster than standard 7.2Mbits HSDPA but at this time Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 of any kind is very hard to find. We could not find any Asus EeePad Transformer TF101G – 3G version available but the specification claims up to 28Mbit a sec for its HSDAP+ capable machine.

Conclusion

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 is currently the most compact tablet in its class, but Transformer TF101 boasts better connectivity. Asus’ docking station also comes with a battery that extends battery life to as much as 16, but both laptops will be good for 8+ hours of intensive work.

Both tablets’ performance is pretty similar, seeing as how both use Nvidia’s Tegra 2 SoC, which has proven to be good in multitasking and Android 3.1.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 looks sleeker, it is easier to hold in one hand, but you may find connectivity a bit lacking. On the other hand, Transformer boasts a more robust build, mini-HDMI and microSD card reader and while a bit heavier, the finishing touches are quality. Thanks to the docking station, Transformer will turn into a notebook, which is not the case with Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Price difference is at about €40 in Transformer’s favor. You can find this Asus tablet at about €400, here, while Galaxy Tab 10.1 is still unavailable in the EU. However, Galaxy Tab 10.1 is available in the US, where it sells for $499. The keyboard dock for Transformer alone sells for €100 Euro in Euro zone and $120+ in USA but it makes perfect sense to get it as it makes this tablet stands out from the crowd.

Asus transformer is definitely worth considering as it is a netbook and tablet at the same time, while Galaxy 10.1 is basically just a nicer tablet.

When asked by an analyst about Tegra 2 during Nvidia fiscal Q2 2012 conference call, CEO Jen Hsun Huang did admit that the original few tablets did had many issues at start, mainly OS related.

Now with the introduction of Android 3.1 and 3.2 “fabulous software” Jensen believes that most obstacles are gone and that there is nothing in the way of Tegra 2 tablets to become a mega success.

Tegra 2 tablets are getting better all the time and they are getting thinner and lighter. He also confirmed that 7 inch tablets are coming and that WiFi version of some of the tablets for $399 are definitely priced right. He didn’t say that first versions were too expensive but you can read between the lines.

Jensen sees a lot of innovation around tablets as they “started clumsy but fixed itself quickly” but you can see a lot of innovation, such as Asus Transformer and you can get them as thin as Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet.

Jensen calls Tegra 2 tablet sales “wonderful” but we believe that sales could have been much better. Many agree that sales are getting better and better but we are not sure what to say about Jensen’s fiscal Q2 2012 conference call and claim that Nvidia see Tegra 2 tablets as huge success.

Sales of Tegra 2 accounts 30 percent of market, probably of what’s left of the market when you don’t include Apple’s tablets, but Nvidia was not clear on that. The tablet hype simply failed to materialize for anyone but Apple at least in the first half of 2011. Sales were ok, but many have expected much more.